Judy McNabnever really felt the need for yearly eye examinations until shestarted to need glasses in her 40’s and 50’s. Like most people, she thought she did not need to see an eye doctor if she did not need to wear eyeglasses or contact lenses.

One day she came intoVisionary Eyecare in Pembroke Pines for an eye exam because she lost her glasses. She was not having any problems with her eyes, no eye pain or pressure, no headaches, no vision problems….nothing. She just wanted to quickly get an eye examination so she could get a new prescription to buy a new pair of glasses at Lenscrafters.

During the eye exam at Visionary Eyecare (the Independent Doctors of Optometry next to Lenscrafters in Pembroke Pines), Judy was able to see 20/20 in the examination room, her eyes looked perfectly healthy during the dilated retinal examination and also on the digital photographs taken of the inside of Judy’s eyes. During the examination, Eye Doctor – Dr Dawn Beardenrecommended that Judy get a visual field (peripheral vision) test as a baseline – because Judy was over the age of 40 (much like a baseline mammogram is done at age 40) . This test is an advanced test that is not part of the routine eye examination and would take extra time and cost Judy extra money (unfortunately – unlike a baseline mammogram- most medical insurances and vision plans and will NOT pay for this preventative testing as a baseline). At first, Judy did not want to take the time to do the additional test butDr Bearden explained that visual field testing could uncover early and subtle eye health issues that sometimes a routine eye exam could not. Judy was convinced and did the additional visual field test… and the results came back positive – TWICE.

Dr Bearden immediately referred Judy to an ophthalmologist for a secondary evaluation. At first, Judy did not really want to see the ophthalmologist…..she kept telling Doctor Bearden that her vision was fine and she was not having any problems or symptoms….but, Dr Bearden INSISTED that she go for the secondary evaluation. Judy did see the ophthalmologist, who then referred her to Bascom Palmer in Miami to see an eye doctor that specializes in eye tumors and eye cancer.

Judy was diagnosed with a tumor in her left eye and had laser treatment to help destroy the tumor in her left eye. This was in 2005. Now in 2009 Judy still has good vision in her left eye (she is able to see 20/25 in that eye). Luckily, the tumor did not spread to anywhere else in her body and the surgeon was able to treat the tumor without having to remove Judy’s eye.

Judy shares her experience in the above and below videos. She reminds us all that YEARLY eye exams are very important to help detect eye health issues that you may be unaware of… since many eye health issues DO NOT CAUSE SYMPTOMS and can only be detected by a COMPREHENSIVE eye exam.

The above video is a report of the Annual AOA (American Optometric Association) American Eye Q Survey for 2008.

It states that 81% of Americans wear contact lenses, eyeglasses or both.

Unfortunatley 26% of them have not visited their Optometrist or other eye doctor in 2 or more years.

Many eye care professionals – including each Eye Doctor at Visionary Eyecare in Pembroke Pines, Davie and Sunrise – strongly recommend that you have a yearly eye exam because most eye and vision problems cause NO obvious signs or symptoms. Often there can be a serious eye health problem such as a retinal hole, retinal tear, glaucoma, eye cancer, tumors in or behind the eyes and many more that oftenDo NOT cause any noticeable vision blur, headaches, eye pain, eye pressure etc. Frequently these conditions easily go by unnoticedand you are unaware that there is any problem or issue without having a comprehensive eye exam done by your eye doctor.

Unfortunately, most Americans are unaware that eye examinations can detect more than just vision and eye health problems. Through comprehensive eye exams and optometrist can detect signs of diabetes, high blood pressure, brain tumors, cancer, heart and cardiovascular problems, high cholesterol, Mutliple Sclerosis (MS) and more…

Great News!!! If you live in South Florida / Broward County then you need to know that we are Eye Doctor / Optometrist providers for the EyeMed Network Vision Care Insurance Plan to provide you with your discounted Eye Exam, Vision Exam, Vision Testing, Eye Testing, Contact Lens Exam and more!

Please call our offices to confirm that we are still participating in YOUR plan….as contracts come up – some plans are added and others are deleted. Again, its always best to check with us first and remember that the list above is only a partial list!

Be sure to use your benefits before the end of the year….use your Flex Plan Spending!

Dr Bearden is currently on the Lenscrafters Optometric Advisory Council (LOAC) with other Doctors and Lenscrafters leaders from around the country. Dominque Simon is the Regional Director of Operations for Lenscrafters in New York and also a member of the LOAC. Dominique (she’s in the back row, farthest to the right in the above pic) informed Dr Bearden of this really cool Blogger event hosted by Lenscrafters in NYC…

In August, LensCrafters hosted a private in-store event for BlogHer bloggers in the NY area to teach parent bloggers about the importance of eye healthand style for themselves and their families. The event was held at the Lenscrafters flagship store in Manhattan on 5th Ave in New York City. Bloggers also received tips from LensCrafters on how to make the most out of eye exams and best practices in working with eye doctors.

The event was led by LensCrafters’ VP of Eyecare, Dr. Eliot Grossman and Dr. Shirlie Dowd. Additional LensCrafters’ Eye Doctors were on hand to mingle with Bloggers and conduct eye exams throughout the event. Style experts were also on hand to help Bloggers to select the right style frames for their face and the best lenses for them.

BlogHer Reviewers take a closer look at LensCrafters:

On the August night in Manhattan, BlogHer’s gathered with the folks from LensCrafters to enjoy some good company, learn some things they didn’t know about eye health, try on new frames with the help of stylists and basically have a pretty good time doing it. They’ve captured the event in their blogs and we think you’ll be surprised by what they each took away from the experience.

“Our rockstar pediatrician dropped the bombshell at her all important 5 year check up that Miss Natalie succeeded at failing her vision test; he also recommended a follow up exam elsewhere. Lovely. Minutes later I saw a Blogher ad announcing their event with LensCrafters…”

There are several treatments for Dry Eye including using artificial tears, prescription eye drop medications like Restasis, eating a diet that is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids (salmon, fish oil supplement capsules or flaxseed oil) and punctal plugs.

Dry eyes are very common problem for many people. Symptoms of dry eyes can include burning, dry eye feeling, itching, intermittent vision blur (that clears up when you blink) and excess tearing (the brain’s natural response to eye dryness).

Punctal plugs are used when you are producing very little tear fluid to properly bathe your eyes. The plugs are inserted into your puncta (the opening of your tear drainage duct) to help preserve what little tears that you do have. Punctal plugs keep your tears ON the surface of your eye (instead of draining out the drainage duct).

The procedure is quick and painless and can be done right in the office examination room. The plugs are inserted painlessly in our office in about 5 minutes.

There are 2 types of plugs – collagen (disolvable) and silicone (non-disolvable – but still removable if you ever want them removed).

At Visionary eyecare we usually insert collagen (disolvable ) plugs into the lower puncta of each eye as a trial test. The plugs will usually last for 3-5 days. In about a week, we will bring you back for a follow up. If you are happy with the amount of moisture in your eyes at your follow up – then we proceed to insert the silicone (non-disolvable) plugs into your lower puncta.

If you feel that you would like more moisture – then we will insert the collagen (disolvable) plugs into your upper AND lower puncta and bring you back for a follow up in about a week. If you are happy with the amount of moisture then we will proceed to insert the silicone (non-disolvable) plugs into all 4 puncta (the upper and lower puncta in each eye).

These plugs can also be called Lacrimal Plugs….and they are NOT felt once they are inserted into your punctas.

The Picture Above shows a Collagen Plug in the Upper Puncta and a Silicone Plug in the Lower Puncta.

5 year old Sofia Talpos is Dr Bearden’s patient. She has come in to visit Dr Bearden at Visionary Eyecare several times in the past few months so Dr Bearden can fine tune her glasses while she is adapting to her very FIRST pair of prescription eye glasses.

Little Sofia REALLY enjoys visiting our office – she always has lots of fun while visiting Dr Bearden and often does not want to leave!!

The video ABOVE features Sofia’s mom, Laura Talpos, talking about her experience with Dr Bearden and Visionary Eyecare.

Laura is such a fan of Visionary Eyecare…..that she has even been telling ALL of her friends who have young children about the importance of early andyearly eye exams…..one friend has even come in recently with her 5 year old son to have his first eye exam with Dr Bearden as well.

In the video BELOW, Laura and Sofia give away Dr Bearden’s SECRET to her success with Children’s eye exams and Peidatric vision care!!

First time patient, Tracy, came into our Pembroke Pines office (next to Lenscrafters) yesterday. She was very upset…telling us that she woke up and her vision was fine but, then the vision in her right eye got suddenly VERY blurry….and she could barely see anything !! This happened right after she put in her colored contact lenses. She almost went to the emergency room but, just at that very moment she happened to look down at the newespaper in front of her…… and saw an advertisement for Lenscrafters UNBEATABLE EVENT that is going on right now. Right then she decided to come in to our office (the Indepependent Doctor of Optometry next to Lenscrafters) to see an Eye Doctor instead of going to the ER.

Ralph, the optometric technician, had Tracy take out her colored contact lenses and then did all of the pre-testing on her. He was concerned because the vision in Tracy’s right eye was EXTREMELY blurry. Dr Bearden also became very concerned after she spoke with Ralph about Tracy (before she went in to see Tracy).

After Dr Bearden saw Tracy – something did not seem quite right. Tracy was not displaying any symptoms or vision loss associated with a retinal detachment or any other SERIOUS eye problem – she was just VERY blurry in her right eye – for seemingly no reason. Dr Bearden looked at Tracy’s right eye under magnification with the slit lamp….and saw….a clear contact lens on Tracy’s right eye!?!?! This was after Tracy had already “taken out” her colored contacts….

Dr Bearden told Tracy “There is a clear contact lens on your right eye”…..Tracy did NOT wear CLEAR contacts – she wore COLORED contacts. So this was VERY strange. Where on EARTH did a clear contact lens come from?!?!?!

Suddenly Tracy exclaimed “Oh my GOD….that must be my HUSBAND’s contact lens!!! He must have put it in my case with my colored contacts by accident!!”. Her husband’s clear contact lens must have been stuck to Tracy’s colored contact lens when she put in her contacts that morning – and then remained on her eye when she took out her colored contacts in our office. Tracy had unknowingly been wearing her husband’s contact lens in her right eye – with her own colored contact lens on top of it!! Tracy’s husbands contact lens presription is about 5x STRONGER than Tracy’s – so this was the cause of her mysterious sudden vision blur. Mystery solved!

Dr Bearden and Tracy were both laughing at the incident and they were also both relieved that this was not a serious vision problem….

Tracy was due for her annual contact lens eye examination anyway, so she just had her routine contact lens eye exam while she was in our office and her trip was not wasted!!

This is a funny story but, Tracy did the RIGHT thing – she came in to see an Eye Doctor when her vision became suddenly blurry. Anytime there is a SUDDEN loss of vision or SUDDEN vision blur – always seek care IMMEDIATELY from your eye doctor!!